Royal Icing Wont Dry....

Made a batch of royal icing for sugar cookies, and this morning its still tacky. First of all it was way to thin starting out... so I added more meringue powder, and still it was to loose... so I added about a teaspoon more powder sugar... It was very cold in my house last night when I woke up it was about 69 degrees. Can anyone plz help me figure out y, so I will not do it again. O and right now, i have the heater on... the cookies near the vent in hopes that they will dry out for packing later on. Advice is needed. thanks

What recipe do you use? I use the 1 lb PS, 3Tbs meringue,6Tbs water, and I mix it for about 7-10 minutes (Antonia's proportions are good too) While I'm mixing I can tell if it's to thin or thick and I add PS or water to adjust . Even after I'm done mixing I sometimes need to adjust when I get ready to use it. Just keep adding small amounts of sifted PS or water to get consistancy right. The other issue about setting could be grease on mixing bowl or paddle, everything has to be grease free or it won't set. Even if the icing was to thin it should still set after 24 hours. 69 degrees shouldn't affect it. High humidity could be a problem.

I use the wilton recipe. Its never given me a problem before. Im glad to say that the icing did harden and I was able to package it. Today I will Dawn everything I use, just to be sure there is no grease. Thanks for all the help!!!

I've had that happen to me over the summer. Its a bummer when the RI decides not to dry. I noticed it either doesn't dry or dries dull if it is too humid or if I add flavoring after adding the water (instead of mixing it all togather or adding it first).

I'm happy it worked out for you. I know those close calls can be nerve racking.

It had to be the humidity. Im in Louisiana, and last night we had a cold front come in. Well my house was super cold over the night, i had them in a case so nada would get on them, and with all the stone floors, this place gets pretty damp. After freaking out and calling the client. I turned the heater on and placed them uncovered on top the fridge. About an hour later and they were dry. Thank God. I couldn't package them wet. So so so glad they dried too.